If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.
Julius CaesarRead
Men gladly believe what they wish. -Libenter homines id quod volunt credunt
Interpretation
People tend to accept beliefs that align with their desires and wishes.
This quote by Julius Caesar highlights the tendency of individuals to trust and embrace ideas that are comfortable or appealing to them. It underscores a fundamental aspect of human nature: the inclination to prioritize personal desires over objective truth, which can influence decision-making and perception of reality.
In practice
In a debate about politics, you might use this quote to illustrate how people interpret facts through their biases.
If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.
War gives the right to the conquerors to impose any condition they please upon the vanquished.
I have always reckoned the dignity of the republic of first importance and preferable to life.
As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can.
All bad precedents begin as justifiable measures.
No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.
There are two infinities that confuse me: the one in my soul devours me; the one around me will crush me
He was a natural, and in the Russian way, tragically above these banalities.
When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown.
I think that a young state, like a young virgin, should modestly stay at home, and wait the application of suitors for an alliance with her; and not run about offering her amity to all the world; and hazarding their refusal. Our virgin is a jolly one; and tho at present not very rich, will in time be a great fortune, and where she has a favorable predisposition, it seems to me well worth cultivating.
To argue about justice is unavoidably to argue about virtues, about substantive moral and even spiritual questions.
The three saddest things are the ill wanting to be well, the poor wanting to be rich, and the constant traveler saying 'anywhere but here'.
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